


How To Give Danny Nightmares

by Smudgegirl



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hospitalization, Jealousy, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 22:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/753811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smudgegirl/pseuds/Smudgegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve gets sick and does not call Danny.  Danny is not impressed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing belonging to H50 is in any way mine, I'm just playing with the characters and making them do things that we know they really want to.
> 
> Special hugs and thanks to JerseyDevil for the encouragement and Beta, and patience with my awful grammar. 
> 
> This fic springs from Simplyn2deep showing me a cute kitty video (see notes at the end) and telling me to write a fic about it, paired with Lyndalanz wanting a sick Steve fic.

Detective Danny Williams woke with a smile, it was typical sunny Monday morning however for a change, Grace was asleep in her room in his new apartment.  This shared custody thing was working wonderfully, and he no longer had to worry about Rachel trying to be spiteful to him and stop him from seeing his one and only reason for living.  They had had a wonderful weekend together, filled with laughter and fun times, and instead of having to return Grace to her mother’s house on Sunday evening, he got to see her bright and early, help her get ready and drive her to school himself.   

The weekend itself had been nearly perfect, the only thing missing was Steve.  He had been away for nearly two weeks now, on some Navy refresher training with Catherine. Danny had spent the better part of the two weeks convincing himself that the thought of Steve and Catherine together on the boat/ship whatever Steve called the damn thing was not driving him crazy with jealousy. He had no right to be jealous, Steve was with his girlfriend and Danny was his best friend. So why was his stomach twisting in knots every time he thought of them together? He shook the thoughts aside and returned to happier thoughts of Grace, the weekend and the fact that Steve was due back sometime today.  He did not want to admit how much he had missed his partner, but he was really looking forward to getting him back.

He could hear Grace moving around getting ready for school and so he dragged himself out of bed to start the day.  He had a quick shower and threw on his blue shirt and black pants that hugged his ass the way he knew always garnered appreciative looks, and yes he silently admitted to himself it was because Steve was going to be back, he then headed to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.  Grace was already sitting at the table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms,.  "Good morning, Monkey!" He said brightly.

She grinned at his enthusiasm, "Morning, Danno! Are you so happy because Uncle Steve is back today?"

Danny felt his face flush slightly as his eyes got bigger at her question, was he so easy to read that even his 11 year old daughter knew that he had a crush? No, he quickly told himself, there is nothing wrong with being happy to see his best friend again. "Um, yeah, Monkey, I guess I am looking forward to seeing Uncle Steve again" he admitted with a smile, "don't tell him that though, or he'll get a big head" he added with a wink.

She laughed her girlish giggle, "Tell him I say hi, and I can't wait to have him take me surfing next weekend."

"We'll see about that Grace, you know we have to wait and see what the water conditions are before he can take you out," Danny said his voice turning serious.

"I know, I know," she answered looking like she wanted to stick her tongue out, "come on Danno we need to leave or we're going to be late!"

\-------------------------

Danny sauntered into HQ with a spring in his step, Kono greeted him with a smile and a cup of coffee, "Hey there other boss, he's not here yet.  Have you heard from him?"

Danny did not have to ask who she was talking about, they were all happy that Steve would be back.  It wasn't like they couldn't operate without him, but they were happier as a unit when they had their whole ohana together.  "Nope, not heard anything yet, Kono, but I think he was only getting in this morning, and then he will need to go home and shower and throw on something special, maybe a lovely pair of cargos and a t-shirt before he comes in to grace us with his presence.  I guess we'll see him around lunch time."

Danny's phone started ringing as he got to his desk, and his heart jumped, his hopes rose as he reached for the phone only to have them sorely dashed when he found it was the Governor's office wanting him to go in for an update meeting at 11:00am.

He left the office at 10:30, still having heard nothing from Steve, he had tried to call twice, but both times his calls went straight to voicemail. Switching his phone to silent as he went in to meet with the Governor he sighed, he was starting to acknowledge the worried feeling that had been gnawing away in the pit of his stomach all morning.

\-------------------------

The meeting with the Governor was a big waste of time as far as Danny was concerned, but with Steve away, they had to report everything in detail to ensure that they kept the man happy.  Danny walked out of the mansion and checked his phone, it was now 12:05 and still no messages from Steve.  Calling HQ as he walked, he tried not to snap when Chin answered the call.  "Is he there yet? I'm starting to lose my patience here man, if he's sitting in his office with his feet up, I'm going to come over and punch him in the nose!"  

"No, brah, haven’t heard a thing from him yet. Maybe he's gone home and fallen asleep, or maybe his flight in got delayed.  Why don't you call Catherine and ask her what flight he was on? That way if he's at home sleeping we can just leave him be."

Danny hung up from Chin, climbed in the car and played with his phone for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.  He could phone Catherine, but as much as he liked her, the thought of talking to her and hearing how the past two weeks with Steve had been for her was not what he wanted.  He clamped down on the feelings of jealousy that flared up and tried to think through his other options.  He could go back to HQ and sit stewing for a few more hours, or, he could go round to Steve's house and possibly wake a tired and grumpy SEAL from a nap.  None of those options sounded great either. Chewing on his thumb for a minute he made his decision and dialed Catherine's number.

"Hi, Danny, " Cath answered in her usual chipper tone, "how's Steve feeling?"

"How's Steve feeling?" Danny blurted out without even saying hi, "I presume you'd know that better than me, I was just calling to see what flight he was on and when he was due in?"

There was silence for a minute, then Catherine spoke, clearly a little shaken, "Steve flew home on Friday, Danny, he wasn't feeling very well, had been a little under the weather for a couple of days.  He said he was going to go home and rest up and promised to see a doctor if he was not better after that."

"Damnit," growled Danny, "I should have known something was wrong when he didn't answer his phone, I'm heading over to his house now, I'll call you when I know what's going on."  He threw his phone down on the seat and gunned the engine.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Steve started feeling ‘off’ on Wednesday and knew something was wrong.  He figured he had picked up a bug of some sort that was playing havoc with his stomach, he felt bloated and lost his appetite.  The gnawing pain started the following day, it wasn’t enough to warrant a doctor's visit, but he was starting to feel generally miserable.  He had been away for nearly two weeks and he was missing his team and especially Danny more than he thought possible.  Danny in particular was a constant voice in his head, and presence in his mind.  At night when he could’ve been sneaking off with Catherine, he had instead made excuses and would lie in his bunk and quietly jerk himself off to memories of Danny surfing and fantasies about that well built body he always hid under his inappropriately tailored clothes.  By Friday he went and explained that he was not well and organized an early flight home.

He got in late Friday evening and crawled into bed, giving thought to calling Danny, but deciding against it as he knew Danny would be doing special weekend activities with Grace.  Saturday was spent in bed feeling sorry for himself and popping pain pills to dull the ache in his stomach.  On Sunday morning, he ended up bent over the toilet, heaving his guts out and sweating through a high fever.  This continued throughout the day and by that night he could no longer move, settling for sleeping on the floor sandwiched between the toilet and the washbasin.  He briefly lamented not bringing his phone to the bathroom with him, but in between periods of vague lucidness and being partially unconscious he soon forgot about much else other than the blinding pain in his stomach and flashes of Danny's face.  He was vaguely aware that at some point he soiled himself and ended up not bothering to try and heave his stomach contents anywhere but on the floor next to himself.  The darkness that eventually claimed him was a merciful release from his misery.

\-------------------------

Danny entered Steve’s house making enough noise to wake a sleeping SEAL, leaving no doubt that he was not some type of burglar.  The last time he had crept into the house he had ended up face first on the floor with a gun to the back of his head, and he had no desire for a repeat performance.

“Yo, Steve, are you home?” he yelled out, only to be greeted by silence.  He searched downstairs, seeing everything locked and tidy, his eyes drifted over to the hastily dropped duffel bag at the bottom of the stairs, _Okay, he’s home and not bothered by leaving stuff lying about, that’s odd,_ thought Danny, quickly moving upstairs.  He reached the main bedroom and peered in cautiously, seeing no-one in the bed he moved inside the room, almost immediately he could smell the pungent stench of vomit, and realized it was coming from the bathroom.  He thanked his strong stomach and the years of practice with police work at crime scenes that he was able to proceed.   

He called out again and got no answer. Starting to get even more alarmed he pushed the bathroom door open and was greeted by the sight of Steve wedged between the fixtures, laying amidst his own filth.  He was deathly pale and Danny had a brief terrifying moment where he thought he was too late, until he found a thready pulse and felt the heat from the fever rolling off Steve's skin.  He grabbed his phone and dialled 911, giving them as much information as he could before he started to move Steve into a better position and see what he could do to help.  He found a bath towel and quickly wet it with cold water, trying to wipe Steve down in an attempt to both cool him down and clean him up.  It seemed like an eternity before he heard the paramedics finally entering the house.

\-------------------------

Pacing the hospital corridor, Danny turned sharply around and almost ran down Chin and Kono.

“Danny, what's going on? We got your message and got here as soon as we could.” Chin grabbed him by the shoulders to get him to stand still for a minute.

Danny shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, “I don’t know, Chin, I called Catherine and she said Steve came home early because he wasn’t feeling well.  So I went around to his place to check on him and I found him unconscious on the bathroom floor!  He has a stupidly high fever and had been throwing up.” He took a breath and looked into two pairs of worried eyes, “They rushed him right through those doors there and I have not heard a word since, they just told me to wait here.” He finished speaking and sat down suddenly on one of the hard plastic chairs that lined the corridor with his head in his hands.

Kono went over and sat next to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders, “Steve’s tough, brah, they’ll figure out what’s wrong and he’ll be back to driving you crazy in no time... let’s just take a few deep breaths and wait this out.”

\-------------------------

Four hours later found them still sitting in the same chairs, every now and then, one would get up and pace a few times up and down, then resume sitting and someone else would start pacing.  They were getting looks from everyone who walked by, but it did not stop them.  Eventually a doctor in scrubs walked through the doors.  “Family of Steve McGarrett?” he asked tiredly.

“Yes, thats us, well we’re his partners at work, and I’m listed as his emergency contact,” Danny blurted out.  “How is he? Is he going to be ok? Can we see him?”

“Danny, let the man speak!” Chin admonished gently.

The doctor smiled patiently, and motioned to a group of chairs, “Let’s sit down.”

“Oh God! Please tell me he’s not dead?” Danny burst out.

“No, Mr...?”

“Detective Williams, Danny, please just tell us.”  

The doctor sighed, “Detective Williams, Danny,...he’s not dead, but he is by no means well, and since it’s quite a lot to go through and you cannot see him yet, let’s sit down so we can talk in comfort.  Please also bear in mind that I have been standing doing surgery on your partner for the past few hours and could really do with sitting down too.”

Danny looked both relieved and embarrassed by his reaction, “Oh, oh yes, I’m so sorry,” he said walking quickly over to the chairs, completely missing the fond but amused look the cousins shared.

They all sat down and the doctor took a deep breath.  “Let’s start again shall we?  My name is Doctor Fraiser and I am currently caring for your friend.  He came in with a burst appendix, we have no idea how long ago it burst, or how badly he has been compromised by it, but as I am sure you know, it’s not a good thing to happen.”

Danny leaned back in his chair blowing out a breath, Rachel had appendicitis while they were married and he had read up on all the problems a burst appendix could cause.  “Is he going to be okay?  How bad is it, doc?"

“Well, we cleaned him up, but he still has a drainage tube in his stomach, so its not pretty.  He will be on a heavy course of antibiotics and in all probability will develop an abscess at the site where the appendix burst, that will hopefully be treated by the antibiotics.  We need to wait 24 hours and see how things go, but if he makes it through, I can tell you It’s not going to be a pleasant few days for him.”

The group sitting in front of him nodded together, absorbing the severity of the situation, “When can we see him?” Chin asked quietly.

Dr. Fraiser smiled, "Wait here and I'll get a nurse to come and get you when he's settled.  You are not going to be able to stay with him though, he will be in the ICU for a few days. You can go in and spend a few minutes with him, but that's all!"

"Mahalo, Doc," Kono said wearily, and turned towards the other two.  "Is there anyone we should call? Mary, Catherine?"

"Damn," Danny pulled a face, "I said I would call Cath back when I knew what was going on, that was hours ago, she's going to think I did this deliberately."  He whipped out his cell phone and started dialling.  "Chin, can you call Mary and let her know please?"

The phone rang only a few times, soon answered by a sleepy sounding voice, "it's about time, Danny! What is going on?"

“I’m sorry Cath, when I got there he was unconscious, and then they rushed him right into surgery, I forgot to call you.”

“DANNY? For the love of God tell me!”

“Sorry, his appendix ruptured, he’s in critical condition in the ICU.  We just have to wait and see for now, I will keep you informed.”

"What? Oh my God! No Danny, I'll put in for leave and be there as soon as I can."

"Cath, we are not even allowed in to see him for longer than a few minutes at a time, don't waste your leave yet. I can let you know once he is in better condition." Danny knew if the roles were reversed he would also want to be by Steve's side, but selfishly he wanted Catherine to stay where she was, he didn't want to be intruding, and feeling like he was a spare wheel, but he really needed to be there for Steve. He wanted to be the one who Steve leaned on while he recovered and he would recover, of that Danny would make certain.

“I’m coming as soon as I can! I don’t care, he’s my boyfriend!”  She was starting to sound pissed and Danny did not need to start a war, not now.

“Okay fine, we’ll see you when you get here, send me a text or something and one of us can come pick you up from the airport.” See, he could still be civil.

\-------------------------

About an hour later a nurse came out and led them back to the ICU for a quick visit.  Steve was still unconscious and it was a shock to see him so still and pale in the bed, although he looked better than when Danny had found him on the bathroom floor.  Danny had time to hold his hand and whisper a few threats into Steve's ear about what he would do if he did not fight and pull through, and then the nurse was shooing them out the room, “Doctor’s orders!  Tomorrow you can spend longer with him, but tonight he needs his rest!”

****  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Steve felt fuzzy, where was he and why did he feel hungover? His eyes wouldn’t open, he tried to move and pain from his abdomen hit him, _oh yes! Wasn’t he in his washroom throwing up?_ He heard the beeps and smelled the antiseptic, _How the hell did I get here?_ He thought, when the realization washed over him, _damn_ it must have been worse than he realized.  He pried his eyes open to find a familiar figure sitting in the chair next to the bed, reading a text on his phone. He tried to talk, but a cross between a croak and a groan came out.

“Hey, hey, be still, its ok!” Dannys concerned face came into view, “here, let me get you some ice,” he held a few ice chips to Steve’s lips and let them melt.

“Wha..What happened?” Steve croaked out still confused.

“Your appendix burst you idiot,” Danny sounded angry.  “You came home early and didn’t call, I had to find you passed out in your bathroom nearly dead!  Nope...no, I’m not going to do this now, but we are having a serious talk when you are well enough about the protocols of calling your partner when you are sick and letting him know that you came home early!”

Steve winced, “Danny, I...”

“No Steve, not now, maybe not ever. Look, your girlfriend is about to arrive, Chin picked her up from the airport. She insisted on coming to take care of you ‘cause apparently I am not good enough and _she is your girlfriend_ so it’s her responsibility.”

Steve opened his mouth to speak again, but the door to the room swung open and Catherine, followed by Chin, strode in. “Oh my God, Steve, are you okay?” Cath pushed her way in front of Danny and bent down over him.  “I was so worried!” She buried her head in his shoulder and cupped his face with her hands.  

Steve patted her on the back with his free arm, and looked up to see a pained look on Danny's face.  He tried to smile, then after a quick glance around the room, Danny and Chin shared a look and Danny cleared his throat.  “Well, we have work we need to do. Cath, call us if you need anything, or if anything changes.  Steve, we’ll see you later.”  And with a simple wave of the hand from both of them  they turned and left.

Catherine sat down with smile, “Just you and me now, let’s work on getting you better.”

Steve smiled a weak smile, but all he could think of was Danny's face as he left the room The look of hurt and the longing he had seen in his eyes and then it hit him like a ton of bricks, Danny loved him!  Those nights fantasizing about Danny while on the ship were maybe not in vain.  It made him smile a little broader as his eyes shut and he slid slowly back to sleep.  

Cath saw his smile and sat back feeling satisfied, he was happy to see her, “That’s right baby, I’m here,” she whispered.

\-------------------------

Chin and Danny were silent for awhile in the car on the drive back to the Palace.  Eventually Chin sucked in a breath and broke the silence, "You love him, don’t you? …Actually let me rephrase that, we already know you love him, it’s about time the two of you pulled your heads out the sand.”

Danny stared at Chin flabbergasted, “He has a girlfriend, Chin! A girlfriend who has made it very clear that _she_ is the one he wants around, and that _she_ is the one who will be looking after him.  You know what? I really don’t want to talk about his right now.” They pulled into the parking lot at the Palace and Danny climbed quickly out the car, slammed the door and strode inside.  He went straight to his office, firmly closing the door to ensure no-one would come in and try to make idle conversation.

Kono looked up at Chin with a question in her eyes.  Chin just shrugged and mouthed “Catherine,” which got an eye roll and a sympathetic smile.

Danny spent the day sequestered in his office, glancing at his phone regularly waiting to hear from Catherine, although realistically, he knew she would not be calling unless she had no choice.  He had a nagging feeling that he should call the hospital, but he did not want to intrude on Steve's time with Catherine. He knew that Steve needed rest and he did not want to be the one to wake him up.

\-------------------------

Catherine sat at the hospital watching Steve sleep, she had been relieved to see him awake and talking with Danny when she walked in, but disappointed that she had not been there when he woke up.  The nurses came in from time to time to check on his vitals and had made some disparaging comments about his fever not going down.  He had started sweating and mumbling in his sleep, and the latest nurse who was there was starting to look alarmed.  “What’s wrong?” Catherine quickly asked her.

“His fever has gotten even higher, I need to get the doctor, and I think we should start ice packs to try and bring it back down.” She rushed out the room leaving Catherine a bit bewildered.

In the next few hours she saw the doctor change the antibiotics and a constant stream of fresh ice packs being placed on Steve to bring his temperature down.  Catherine sat by his side, holding his hand and talking softly.  She felt a little lost, and briefly thought about phoning his team, but decided against it as she wanted Steve to herself. She knew there would not be enough space for everyone in Steve’s room and she wasn’t about to leave for anybody.  Steve started to moan deliriously, he was muttering under his breath and would not be calmed.  Catherine tried talking to him, she stroked his face and held his hand trying to make sense of his mumblings, but nothing would work.  It was then that it hit her, scattered among the gibberish she didn’t understand, she clearly heard a few Danny’s and Danno’s, he was asking for Danny! She shushed him and although extremely irritated with the fact that her name was not the one being asked for, continued wiping down his face with a cool cloth and talking calmly to him. Over the next few hours Steve did not improve, his fever rose higher and his delirium got worse, but his pleading for Danny remained the same.

Dr. Fraiser came rushing in as some of the machines started blaring, taking stock of the situation quickly he turned to Catherine, "Talk to him!" he demanded, "try and get him to calm down or I'm going to have to sedate him further and we want to try and keep any excess meds out of his system right now!"  

"I've been trying," Catherine sobbed, "he seems to want Danny though, he won't listen to me!"

Dr. Fraiser looked at her harshly, "I presume then, that you have at least called Detective Williams, and that he's on his way?"

Catherine looked up at the doctor as if he was mad, "No, I have not! I am his girlfriend and I am taking care of him," she declared.

"In that case, could you please leave the ICU, as you are obviously not helping the situation," Dr. Fraiser was firm and one of the nurses tugged at Catherine's arm to guide her out the room.

\-------------------------

By the end of the work day Danny was pacing in his office, Chin and Kono took pity on him and walked over.  "Hey, Brah," Chin said, "let’s go, we're all going to the hospital to visit. She's had all day with him, it's time for some team time."

Danny nodded curtly and followed the cousins out of the building.

The teammates walked quietly down the corridor towards the ICU, Danny's heart stood still when they rounded the corridor to see Catherine leaning against the wall sobbing.  "What's Happened? What's wrong?" Danny ran up and grabbed her by the shoulders, frantic with worry.

Catherine looked up at the man in front of her, the man she realized she had lost her boyfriend to, and slapped him as hard as she could in the face. "You! You're what happened!" She yelled, "We had something good and then you came along, and now all he wants is you!"

Danny reeled back from the slap. She had caught him by surprise and he had bitten his tongue, he could taste the blood. For a girl she hit damn hard. He would still rather take a hit from her than Kono though.  He looked up, partly shocked by the slap but mostly shocked by the words.  Catherine looked ready to attack again, but Chin had a firm hold on her and was not letting her move. "Wha, what do you mean he wants me?" Danny managed to get out while rubbing his cheek.

Dr. Fraiser appeared in the doorway, "What she means, Detective, is that apparently for the past few hours Commander McGarrett has been calling for you in his delirium. His fever spiked and he is not doing very well.  Can you please come in and see if your voice will calm him down?"

Danny glared at Catherine as he roughly shoved his way past her into the ICU.  He grabbed Steve’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “Hey, Babe, it’s ok, I’m here,” he leaned down on instinct and placed a kiss on Steve’s forehead running his other hand down and cupping his face.  “I’m right here now and not going anywhere, I swear.  You need to calm down and rest.”  

Steve started quieting down and murmured a more content “Danno,” before his eyes flickered open, and then closed fairly quickly as he slipped back into blackness.

Dr. Fraiser breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness,” he said giving Danny a wry smile, “I really didn’t want to have to sedate him any further.  He has enough drugs going into him at the moment, with his fever going up so dangerously high like it did today we had to strengthen his antibiotics and his body is already so weak.”

Danny looked at the doctor slightly confused, “His fever went up dangerously high?” He saw the doctor’s eyes widen a little in surprise that he had not known, before realization set in for both of them. “Excuse me a minute, Doc, if you need me I’ll be just outside.” and he turned sharply and yanked the door open.

Kono had Catherine backed up against the wall and was busy reading her the riot act, and although Catherine was trying to act like she could care less, Danny could see the worry in her eyes when she saw him.  “Catherine,” He started in a quiet yet serious voice, “I think you can go home, to your house, not Steve’s, and wait there.  If...I mean when Steve regains consciousness and he wants to see you, we will call you.” He turned around as if dismissing her and started to update Chin.

“He’s my boyfriend,” She yelled, “you can’t stop me from seeing him!”

“Oh really?” Danny said with the dangerously protective look on his face, “So, are you his medical next of kin, his emergency contact?  No, I am, which means that I can stop whoever I want from going in there,” he motioned to Steve's door.  “I could forgive you hitting me, you were upset, I get that. But not calling us when Steve got really sick today, when he was calling for me and you selfishly ignored that? That I do not intend to forget.  When Steve wakes up, he can make his choice and I will respect that, I hope you will too. In the meantime, you can go home, I got this.” With that he motioned for Chin and Kono to join him in Steve’s room.

The three of them gathered near Steve’s bed with the doctor, for an update.  “He needs to rest now, and let the stronger meds do their job,” the doctor said, “you can stay here if you want, just keep him calm and call if you are worried about anything, I have just checked him over and his temperature has started going down, so hopefully we are through the worst.”

The group settled down around Steve’s bed quietly lost in their own thoughts about the recent events, none of them wanting to talk too much in Steve’s presence.  Eventually they all drifted off into a restless slumber to pass the night.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Once again Steve felt himself coming out of a haze into a wakeful state.  His mouth felt like a dead rat had slept in it and he had to pry his eyes open.  He remembered where he was and why he was there, in fact the last thing he remembered was Catherine being there talking to him after Danny had left.  The scene in his room was quite different now.  Chin was on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him, and next to him Kono, with her head in his lap, she looked the most comfortable of everyone.  Danny was sitting in the chair next to his bed, he was bent over at the waist and his head was smooshed on the bed next to Steve’s hip.  He was drooling slightly and with his stubble growth, he looked more than a little rumpled.  Steve slid his hand down and ran it through Danny’s hair, massaging and stroking lightly.

Danny grumbled as he felt someone playing with his hair, too tired to wake up properly.  “lea’me lone,” he slurred out.

Steve chuckled which made him wince a little, and on sucking in a deep breath he looked up into Chin’s concerned eyes.

“Let him sleep, brah, he’s beyond exhausted. Give him a little while longer, it’ll save all of our sanity by the day’s end.” He smiled as he felt Steve’s forehead and realized the fever had broken.  “Here, have an ice chip,” he whispered trying not to wake the others.

Steve nodded and smiled, sucking eagerly on the ice, his eyes shifting around the room taking stock of the scene. “Catherine?” he mouthed the question to Chin.

“She went home, we’ll catch you up later.” Chin whispered it not wanting to promote further discussion at this point, he knew things were going to need to be said, but now was not the time.

Steve closed his eyes, he could tell that Chin was tense and it worried him, but he trusted Chin. If it should wait until his exhausted teammates could be in on the conversation, he would wait.  It was not long before he drifted back to sleep.

Steve slept on and off for the next 18 hours, waking to hear Danny talking, and feel his hand being held firmly or his face being wiped down by caring hands that he knew belonged to his best friend. Chin and Kono took turns going home to get some sleep and it was well into the evening of the next day by the time Dr. Fraiser came to once again check on Steve. He was immediately happy with the progress he had made.  “I think we have turned a corner,” he announced “the stronger antibiotics are working, with any luck we can downgrade him into a private room in the morning.”

The three other people in the room all breathed a sigh of relief, somehow they had made it through without the issue of Catherine being brought up again, and even though they knew it was inevitable, they were glad not to have to discuss it while Steve was dangerously ill.

Danny looked down at Steve’s half open eyes and smiled a tired looking smile, “You hear that, Babe?  Soon you’ll be up and running.”

Steve raised his eyebrows a little and blew out a huff of air, “You look like shit Danno, go get some sleep.  I’ll still be here in the morning.”

“He’s right, Brah,” Chin added, “You need some decent rest, I’ll stay here with him and I promise I’ll call if anything changes.” He gave Danny a pointed look, and motioned towards the door.

Danny sighed, he knew he was beaten, and realistically he knew that he needed to be well rested to be able to take care of Steve as he was getting better.  “Ok, but you call me!” He said looking directly at Chin, “Anything, anything at all.”

“Yes, Danny, you know I will.”

\-------------------------

Kono insisted on driving Danny home as anyone could see he was in no condition to drive.  She dropped him off in his car and called a cab to take her to her house so she could also get some sleep.

Danny walked into his apartment and fell face first on the couch, asleep before his head even hit the cushions.

Back at the hospital, Chin managed to keep the conversation light with Steve who was still reasonably groggy and had not yet asked about Catherine again.  Steve was starting to doze off, so he took the opportunity to pop out to the cafeteria to get something to eat for his dinner.

Steve watched him go through half closed eyes and once again thanked whatever deities he could think of for his team.  They really were his Ohana.  He thought back to the fact that he had not seen Catherine in the past day, and decided that maybe she too, like Danny had been exhausted and gone home to sleep.  Truthfully he was not sorry, he wanted Danny.  Now that he knew what, or rather who he wanted, it was his sole focus and he knew he needed to end it with Catherine as soon as he could.  He realized that since she had come to his bedside when he was sick, it was probably best to wait until he was out of the hospital before having that particular conversation though.

He closed his eyes for a minute and heard the door to his room open, thinking it was probably Chin he kept his eyes closed drifting into the halfway point between sleep and wakefulness.  He opened his eyes with a start when he felt a soft pair of lips kiss his, to find Catherine smiling down at him.  

“Hey, Sailor, how’re you doing?”

“Cath! Hey, I wondered where you were,” Steve smiled at her.  

“Have they left you all alone?” Catherine looked really concerned that he had no-one with him. “I would never have left you alone,” she stated, sitting on the edge of the bed, running her hand down the side of his face.  “I thought they were here, or I would have come in earlier.”

“Chin’s just run down to get dinner, he’ll be back any minute, but Danny and Kono went home to sleep.  In fact if you want, give Chin a call and he can grab some food for you.”

“No! No... it’s okay...I’ve...um...I’ve already eaten,” Catherine suddenly looked nervous.  “I can’t really stay too long, I’ve got to get back to the base,” she blurted out.  “I just wanted to to stop in and let you know that I am still here for you! Whatever you need, you just call me.  I love you, Steve.” She stood up to leave, and suddenly turned pale as Chin and Dr. Fraiser walked through the door together.

Chin froze, “What are you doing here?” he hissed out at her.  “Who let you in? Danny gave everyone instructions not to let you back in here.”

“What?” Steve’s eyes grew wide and he tried to sit up, groaning as the pain in his stomach hit him.  

Dr. Fraiser quickly pushed him back down and turned to frown at the two others in the room. “No upsetting the patient please, this needs to wait until he is stronger.”

“No!” Steve gasped out, “I need to know what is going on! Why would Danny not let Cath see me?” He actually sounded hurt and bewildered.

Catherine quickly answered, “He’s just jealous that I was here nursing you back to health while he had to go back to the office to work. So when he got back he made me leave.” She knew she was lying, but she had a small hope that somewhere Chin held a little bit of sympathy for her, or at least would not want to upset Steve further and let it go.

Chin’s mouth flew open in surprise at her lie, he rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to gather his thoughts while he stood and stared at her in shock.

Dr. Fraiser sighed, “Okay, this is not my place, but if you are going to be told anything it may as well be the truth.  Since I am an impartial third party here, I am going to tell you what I saw.”

Chin looked at Steve and nodded, so Steve turned his attention to the doctor.

“Your partner was livid, that when you were seriously ill and your fever was extremely high, your girlfriend did not call your team to let them know.  It was made far worse by the fact that you were calling for him and getting agitated but we did not want to sedate you.” He looked over at Chin for confirmation.

Chin nodded, “That’s the basics of it.  I know Danny was going to talk to you once you were a little better and if you wanted to see Catherine, he was going to call her in. We were just waiting for your condition to improve.  If you want her to stay here with you now, tonight, I will leave. It’s your decision.”

Steve looked around at the stressed faces in the room, from Chin to the doctor, to Catherine, “I trust Danny with my life,” he said, mostly to Catherine. “If he thought it was best for you not to be here, he had a good reason.  I think for now, you had better leave and we will sort this out once I am stronger and at home.” He hated doing that, but he knew that he was still not being told the whole story and above all else he trusted his team’s judgement, he trusted Danny’s.

Catherine turned and wiped some tears away from her eyes, she could still not believe it had come to this. In her heart she did not believe that her and Steve were going to break up, especially over Danny.  So he had wanted his partner, it wasn’t like he was gay or anything, they were like brothers.  She knew she had been jealous and handled it all wrong, but she was sure if she was nice enough and maybe apologized to everyone she could still fix this.  She tried to smile as she nodded and walked slowly out the room.

\-------------------------

True to form the super SEAL fought the infection and early the next morning was transferred from the ICU to his own private room.  It was here that Danny and Kono found him and Chin the next morning.

“Hey, Babe,” Danny walked over to the bed and had to stop himself from bending down to place a kiss on Steve’s head. He reached out and ruffled his hair instead.

Steve grinned a goofy smile back up at him, “Hey yourself, you look much better!”

“Well it’s amazing what a good night’s sleep, even if it is on the couch and you’re fully dressed, can do for a man.  Also a phone call to a certain Monkey helped tremendously, she sends special hugs and kisses for her Uncle Steve, and will visit you once we get you out of here.” He beamed down at Steve, feeling like finally, all was right in the world, as he perched on the edge of the bed.

Danny looked up at Chin and Kono, "Guys, could you give me and Steve a moment please?"

The cousins shot each other a knowing glance and grinned, "I think we need a cup of coffee anyway," Chin said grabbing Kono by the arm and dragging her out the room, ignoring the protesting noises she was making.

Steve grinned up at Danny, "That wasn't very subtle, Babe."

"You nearly died here, Steve, I'm not going for subtle.  I nearly lost you, and you were calling for me, I can't ignore this any more,” Danny took his hand in his, “ I'm in love with you, and if I've read this wrong tell me now and I'll leave. I’ll even call Catherine to come back. But if I'm right, we've both been idiots and I'm done with wasting time."

"You're not reading anything wrong,” Steve breathed out with a sense of contentment. “I couldn't think of anything but getting home to you while I was away."

Danny raised his eyebrows, "On that note, Steven, why in the ever loving fuck did you not call me when you got back, huh?"

Steve looked into Danny's eyes and saw the hurt there, that was not what he wanted. "I knew you had Grace and I didn't want to interfere, especially when I was sick and wouldn't be able to do fun stuff with you guys.  Seriously, Danno, I only thought it was a stomach bug and I didn't want to bother you."

"Well, it's time you learned that in a relationship, there is no time when you think _I couldn't  be bothered!_ You love the person, you want to help them and be there for them when they are sick, and if you ever do anything like that again I will punch you in the face, got it?"

Steve smiled, "Yeah, I got it, now come here," he pulled Danny down to his level and softly pulled him in for a kiss.  Lips brushed softly together as their stubble clashed, it was perfect, it was sweet right until Steve grunted in pain as he moved the wrong way.

"Hey, hey," Danny pulled back quickly, "we've got plenty of time for this later! You're alive. We’re not going to be stupid any more, let’s take it slow and get you out of here."  

 


	5. Chapter 5

A week later finally found Steve released from hospital and at home, recuperating. Danny had collected him from the hospital that morning, even going so far as to bring Steve’s truck so that Steve did not have to bend down and possibly hurt his incision site climbing into the low Camaro. Danny had moved in "temporarily", so he said, in order to ensure that 'Neanderthal Army Man' behaved and made a full recovery.  

Steve was settled on the couch while Danny was making a fuss and doing nearly everything he could for him, but as he sat there he noticed how tired Danny looked.  He had initially thought it due to the long hours Danny had spent in the hospital, only going home to get a few hours sleep, before early every morning appearing in the chair beside his bed. But as Steve looked closer at Danny now, he was starting to have his doubts.  “Danno?” He called from the couch, “Come and sit for a bit, you look absolutely exhausted."

“What is  it, Steve?”  Danny came hurrying out from the kitchen where he was busy starting dinner.  “Do you need something? What can I do?”

“Danny, just stop a minute! You look tired, come and sit.”

“Babe, I’ll sit as soon as I am done, in fact, I promise to join you right there on the couch very shortly.” Danny smiled and walked back into the kitchen shaking his head slightly.  He knew he looked tired, the truth of the matter was he was beyond tired.  He had been going at full speed with little sleep since he had found Steve on the bathroom floor, but what was worse was that every time he did sleep, he was woken after an hour or two with horrific nightmares of being too late.  He would wake up in a sweat, with the image of Steve’s blank, lifeless eyes staring at him burned into his brain.  He had long since given up on trying to get back to sleep after the nightmares, he would rather get up and work. He had taken to going to the office in the middle of the night and doing any paperwork he could find, before heading off to Steve’s hospital room so he could be there when he woke up in the morning.

"Danny!" The shout jolted Danny out of his thoughts and got him moving.

"Coming, Babe," he yelled back as he threw some sandwiches onto a plate and made his way out to the couch.

They ate the sandwiches while watching tv and exchanging small talk, enjoying being able to sit next to each other and touch without fear of interruption. Eventually both of them were battling to keep their eyes open.  “Come on, Babe,” Danny knocked Steve’s leg.  “Lets get you to bed.”

They walked upstairs together and Danny hovered around while Steve got ready for bed.  Steve lay down on one side and patted the spot next to him. “Get in, Danno, I’m tired and I want sleep!”

“Ummm,” Danny hesitated, “I was planning on sleeping in the guest room, I don’t  want to disturb you.”

“Why would you disturb me, Danny?  And what if I need you in the night? Come on, just get in,” Steve was getting impatient.

“Okay, Okay,” Danny grumbled and climbed in, he was surprised with how quickly he could feel his eyes closing.

\-------------------------

Steve woke up, and glanced at the clock.  They had been asleep for nearly two hours.  He was more comfortable than he had ever felt in his life, spooned in his arms was Danny.  So if he was so comfortable what had woken him?  Then he felt the twitch, and heard a murmur.

_Danny’s mind whirled, he raced through the bedroom into the bathroom to find Steve on the floor.  He was too late, “No, no, no, no, Steve, please no, you can’t be dead!” He fell to his knees crying._

Steve froze as he heard the mumbling and pieced together what Danny was dreaming.  Then, as smoothly and quickly as he could he gathered Danny into his arms and pulled him tight into his body, pinning him down to stop the restless movements, “Shhh, Danno, it’s ok, I’m right here.”

Danny’s body went limp and pliable, and within seconds he was back in a deep sleep, curled up in Steve’s protective arms, and like that, they slept...

\-------------------------

Danny blinked his eyes open, it was morning and he had slept the whole night through.  He felt almost human again.  In fact he felt happier than he had in years, even if he was currently firmly pinned down by a sleeping SEAL. He tried to move, but Steve gripped him tighter so he gave up and enjoyed some cuddle time. He eventually dozed back off into a light slumber.  

Catherine crept into the house, it was early morning, and she had driven past Steve’s house on a whim.  Noticing only his truck in the driveway, she decided to risk going in and trying to work things out with him. She was happy to see that Danny was not on the couch, and double checked the spare room as she snuck past.  All was quiet, and she started to feel like this was indeed her lucky day.  

Hearing a vague noise, Danny opened one of his eyes slightly to see the bedroom door swing open quietly.  Catherine stood there, mouth open, eyes wide as she took in the scene before her.  She turned suddenly and fled out the house as fast as she could.

“What was that, Danno?” Steve mumbled as the front door slammed shut.

“Nothing to worry about right now, Babe,” Danny said pulling Steve’s arms tight around himself again.  “Rest a little longer then I’ll make us some breakfast in bed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cute Kitty Video that inspired the final cuddling scene in Chapter 5 is here.... http://www.wimp.com/stopnightmare/
> 
> As an added note I would like to say I have nothing against Cath. I do not hate her, I usually write her as helping the boys get together, but the muse wanted something different this time and went with jealous Cath.


End file.
